The officer gave a stern lecture, something about where and where not to ride your Segway, and about how his sergeant was getting irritated. Ovechkin scooted about in circles and waited for the speech to end.

"All right, see you!" he finally said to the officer, and sped off.

And that's pretty much how the afternoon went. Briefly, the back story: Mike Green had recently complained to a team employee of boredom. She suggested he take a tour of D.C. He said his legs were tired. He had passed great numbers of Segway tours on his way to the Verizon Center, so they decided Segways would be the way to go. Matt Bradley was recruited. It became something of a media event. And Alex Ovechin and Nicklas Backstrom ended up on board.

"I’m never under the assumption that you draft for need. You draft the best available football player on the board. ... Because, in the long run, they are the ones who will help you win the most games." - Scot McCloughan